India Targets Eliminating Leprosy

Share

Health Officials in India have revealed that the country is moving further towards eliminating leprosy. The country has set itself a target of less than one leprosy infected person for every 10,000 people. During the early 1980s, when the Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) was yet to be introduced in the country, the figures were at 57.6 cases for every 10,000 people. This rate has now come down to 1.06 as of November 2005.

Advertisement

At least 11.27 million leprosy cases have been treated in India since the introduction of multiple drug therapy and the country now has only 118,844 registered leprosy cases.
India observes Anti-Leprosy Day 30 January. Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium Leprae, which primarily affects the skin, mucous membranes and peripheral nerves causing deformities. India is reported to be close to eliminating leprosy altogether.

Advertisement

There is also a need to create social awareness to ensure that the patients who have been cured are free of any social stigma. So far, 17 states and union territories including Nagaland, Haryana, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Punjab, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir have attained the leprosy elimination level. But 75% of the cases are reported from seven states including Jharkhand (4%), Orissa and Chhattisgarh (5% each), Uttar Pradesh (23%), Bihar (17%), Maharashtra (11%) and West Bengal (10%). The Government seeks to focus on the states which have the highest incidence of the ailment. The Central Government is also reported to be collaborating with the WHO with regard to this.

Your comments are automatically posted once they are submitted. All comments are however constantly reviewed for spam and irrelevant material (such as product or personal advertisements, email addresses, telephone numbers and website address). Such insertions do not conform to our policy and 'Terms of Use' and are either deleted or edited and republished.Please keep your comments brief and relevant.This section may also have questions seeking help. If you have the information you are welcome to respond, but please ensure that the information so provided is genuine and not misleading.

Disclaimer - All information and content on this site are for information and educational purposes only. The information should not be used for either diagnosis or treatment or both for any health related problem or disease. Always seek the advice of a qualified physician for medical diagnosis and treatment.Full Disclaimer